Oct. 20, 2008 — For 620 Design owner Jean J. Picou, creating just the right brochure, logo, sign, poster, T-shirt, packaging material, and much more for his clients is what excites him.
"It's definitely a job about solving problems for people," he said.
His clients cover the gamut from nonprofits to the local government to a variety of small companies.
Picou starts a job by asking the client a lot of questions. He said a lot of time the company has the answers in his mission statement, but if not, he digs deep so he can come up with just the right graphic design.
He's segueing into video production. He recently worked on "Proudly We Served," a video about St. Croix's World War II veterans.
Based out of his St. Croix condominium, Picou, 37, also loves being self-employed.
That said, he faces challenges including tight deadlines. In stateside jobs, he had a team and a couple of weeks to come up with the perfect piece for customers, but on St. Croix, jobs are very last minute.
"Here, it's 'I need it in three days,'" he said.
According to Picou, nonprofits and businesses make last-minute decisions regarding their advertising, and in the case of nonprofits, have to search for funding before they can hire him.
The biggest challenge, however, comes from clients who present him with a logo or other piece created on their home computer.
"They say freshen it up," he said.
Creating successful advertising works takes more than just a little work on a home computer, so Picou said he does "freshen" it up, but also creates a few other pieces so the customer can see the possibilities.
"I have to be very diplomatic," he said, laughing.
Picou also puts his creative energy to good use by serving on the board of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national initiative with a V.I. chapter that helps children learn the consequences of gun violence.
And he does a lot of work for the Caribbean Museum Center for the Arts in Frederiksted.
"I help them out as much as I can," he said. That help included teaching youth advertising classes at the center.
Picou arrived on St. Croix almost five years ago after spending a vacation visiting friends. He was hooked and within 10 months had given up a hectic lifestyle in Baltimore. Soon after he arrived, he opened 620 Design, a company with a catchy name that has its roots in Picou's college days.
"It's actually my birthday — June 20," he said, adding that in college he had to come up with a company name and advertising campaign so he picked the obvious.
Picou graduated from Baltimore's Maryland Institute College of Art and stuck around the city for other jobs.
By the time he moved to St. Croix, he'd already spent a dozen years honing his skills in a variety of graphic arts jobs. He last worked as the advertising art director at Euro RSCG, a multinational advertising agency.
Born in Spain when his father was in the U.S. Navy, he grew up in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
He still likes the beach, and he and his wife Lorien spend time enjoying St. Croix's with their friends.
At home, they enjoy life with their two cats, Eva and Zsa Zsa.
Reach Picou at 277-1544.
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